The Hornets are having to use the beginning of the regular season as an extension of the preseason. With six new players arriving since the end of last season, two of whom -- Emeka Okafor and Ike Diogu -- didn't play during the preseason, the Hornets still have some getting acquainted to do, among other things. Diogu sat out the season-opening 113-96 loss at San Antonio on Wednesday because of a strained left knee. Okafor, who has been slowed by a sprained second toe on his right foot, finally played for his new team and had good numbers -- 18 points and 10 rebounds in 28-plus minutes. But the Hornets are lacking continuity on both ends of the court. They didn't look much different than they had in compiling a 2-6 preseason record.
Coach Byron Scott will continue to experiment with his rotation when the Hornets play their home opener against the Kings on Friday night in the New Orleans Arena.
On Wednesday, reserve forward Peja Stojakovic got some minutes at shooting guard and rookie shooting guard Marcus Thornton, who played well at times in the preseason, was inactive. The other newcomers -- guards Bobby Brown and Darren Collison and forward Darius Songaila -- are each trying to find a niche as part of an overhauled bench.
Much like last season, the Hornets were uncompetitive whenever Chris Paul wasn't in the game. The Spurs' bench scored 32 points before a point was scored by a Hornets reserve.
SPURS 113, HORNETS 96: The Hornets were never in the game after the early part of the second quarter because they couldn't offer any defensive resistance to the Spurs. Their defensive rotations were slow and the Spurs got open shots in the lane, on the perimeter, and pretty much everywhere in between. San Antonio shot 52 percent, 11 of the 12 Spurs scored, and nine Spurs scored at least nine points.
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